Mad Hatter
The Mad Hatter is a supporting character from the 1951 Disney film Alice in Wonderland, and the the deuteragonist in the 2010 Tim Burton version. Background The Mad Hatter is a resident of Wonderland and the best friend of the March Hare. Together, the two commonly engage in tea parties; most of which are to celebrate their "unbirthdays". While the Hatter is loud, eccentric, and insane like the rest of Wonderland's residents, he is also rather charming and can be mild-mannered from time to time, particularly when dealing with visitors such as Alice. According to Hatter, he and the March Hare never get compliments on their singing, and they're usually the only attendants at the frequent unbirthday parties, apparently making the duo outcasts in the realm of Wonderland. This is most likely due to their overbearing antics and personas, as well as the fact that they're both, especially the Mad Hatter, troublemakers, albeit innocently so. This could be seen when the Mad Hatter made an attempt to "fix" the White Rabbit's watch. As said before, one of the Mad Hatter's traits includes being rather charismatic. He tends to use terms such as "my dear" when referring to Alice, is shown to be courteous, and is overall the warmer side of the duo that is himself and the March Hare, who is far more rambunctious and outspoken. Appearances Alice in Wonderland In the 1951 Disney animated feature Alice in Wonderland, the Hatter appears as a short, hyperactive man with grey hair, a large nose and a comical voice. He was voiced by Ed Wynn in 1951, and by Corey Burton in his later appearances (Bonkers, House of Mouse). Alicestumbles upon the Hatter and the March Hare having an "un-birthday" party for themselves. She sits at the table and they both run toward her, telling her "it's very very rude to sit down without being invited", although they immediately forgive her after she compliments their singing. Alice asks what an "un-birthday" is and they explain that "there are 364 days of the year that aren't your birthday; those are un-birthdays." They throw Alice a small un-birthday party. They ask Alice where she came from but they never give Alice a chance to answer. The Hatter and the Hare offer Alice tea several times, but each time she is unable to even take a sip before being ushered to another seat at the table so that the members of the party may each have a "clean cup" to use. The Hatter asks her the infamous riddle "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" but when she tries to answer, the Hatter denies asking her the riddle. The White Rabbit then bursts in exclaiming that he is late. The Hatter and the Hare (unwittingly) vandalize his watch by putting numerous food items into it (claiming the watch is two days slow). The Hatter and the March Hare then kick the rabbit out and Alice follows him, as the Hatter and the Hare begin singing the un-birthday song yet again. Later in the film, the Queen of Hearts calls the March Hare, the Hatter, and the Dormouse to Alice's trial. She asks them what they know of the disaster during the croquet game. Instead of answering, they throw the Queen an un-birthday party that cheers her up. Throughout the course of the film, the Hatter pulls numerous items out of his hat, such as cake and smaller hats. He and the Hare also break the laws of physics more than once; they pour tea cups and plates out of tea kettles, and the Hatter is seen eating plates and other inedible items at the tea party, also the March Hare asks the Hatter for half a cup of tea, and the Hatter cuts his tea cup in half and pours him the tea. His personality is that of a child: he is angry one second but happy the next. He also takes an immediate liking to Alice after she tells him she's a fan of his singing. The Hatter and March Hare make a cameo appearance in a painting in the Tea Party Garden in the Kingdom Hearts video game, and the Hatter is also a greetable character at the Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort, Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Paris Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland. This version of the character was also a semi-regular on the Disney Afternoon series Bonkers and one of the guests in House of Mouse, where he even made a cameo appearance in one of the featured cartoon shorts. Trivia * The Mad Hatter is often cited as Alice's closest friend. This is because of the strong relationship in the Disney Parks and the two often being paired in other media and merchandise. However, in the movie, the two were downright antagonistic toward each other. * The Mad Hatter served as visual inspiration for the Hatbox Ghost, who has even been theorized by some fans to have been a hatter previously. * The Mad Hatter's hat can be seen in Yen Sid's studies on a shelf in Epic Mickey. * The Mad Hatter's hat can be used for the Little Green Men in Toy Story 3: The Video Game. * His name appears in all of the shops in all of the theme parks around the world. * Despite his good guy status, his hat appears as a token and he has his own space in both the Villains and My Villains Collector's Editions of Monopoly. * Ward Kimball's animation of the Mad Hatter was used as a reference for the character of King Candy from Wreck-It Ralph. Category:Characters Category:Alice in Wonderland characters Category:Males Category:Humans Category:Adults Category:Sidekicks Category:Artistic characters Category:Heroes Category:Idiots Category:Silly characters Category:Disney characters